About Best Friends Animal Society
To end the killing of dogs and cats in U.S. shelters and bring the country to no-kill by providing lifesaving programs, running the nation's largest no-kill sanctuary, and supporting shelters and communities.
Focus Areas
animal welfareshelter supportadoptionfoster programsspay/neuter servicescommunity cat (TNVR) programssanctuary operationseducation and trainingadvocacy
Funding Style
program/project supportrestricted program fundingservice delivery funding
Topics
About Best Friends Animal Society
Best Friends Animal Society directs its grantmaking toward keeping dogs and cats out of shelters and helping communities move toward no-kill outcomes. The recent grants list shows that approach in practice: a $2,350,000 program-service grant to Austin Pets Alive, followed by seven-figure support to Jacksonville Humane Society. Those awards sit alongside broad support for shelter operations, adoption, foster programs, spay/neuter services, community cat programs, education, and training. The foundation works through shelter and rescue infrastructure rather than individual pet aid. Its active programs point to on-site and virtual shelter medicine support, network partner grants, and outreach or embed programs that place Best Friends expertise inside municipal and community shelters. Recent awards also show a recurring emphasis on organizations that can expand lifesaving capacity at scale, including humane societies, animal rescue groups, and shelter medicine partners. The grant portfolio is shaped by restricted program funding and service-delivery support. Several awards are labeled program service support, which fits the organization’s stated aim of providing lifesaving programs, running a no-kill sanctuary, and supporting shelters and communities across the United States.
What Best Friends Animal Society Funds
Shelter operations are a central theme. Best Friends Animal Society gave $544,900 to Humane Society of Hall County - Northeast Georgia for program service support, and the active shelter-support programs describe embedded assistance for municipal and community shelters. Medical capacity building appears in the shelter medicine work. The National Shelter Medicine Program provides on-site and virtual support for high-quality, high-volume spay/neuter services and shelter medicine, matching the foundation’s focus on surgical and medical capacity building. They also back adoption and transfer coordination. A $262,350 award to Paws for Life K9 Rescue supports the same lifesaving framework that shows up in the Partner Up Challenge, which was designed to increase adoptions and transport partnerships between shelters and rescues. Community cat work is another named priority. Best Friends’ embed and outreach programs specifically mention sustainable community cat programs and foster and adoption network building.
How Best Friends Animal Society Gives
Typical grant size is $10,000 at the 25th percentile, $17,979 at the median, and $35,682 at the 75th percentile. The recent grants list also shows a wider upper tail, with multiple awards in the hundreds of thousands and a $2,350,000 grant at the top. The pattern is strongly recurring rather than one-off. Jacksonville Humane Society, Operation Kindness, Austin Pets Alive, and San Diego Humane Society each appear in more than one recent grant year. Best Friends Animal Society is a Pure DAF Provider, does not fund individuals, and does not make program-related investments. Active programs are structured as grants, network support, and embedded assistance rather than open, unsolicited applications; the Partner Up Challenge is the exception noted as accepting unsolicited participation.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$16.1M
Total Assets
$200.6M
Total Revenue
$148.3M
Total Expenses
$173.4M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $10K and $36K, with a median of $18K.
25th Percentile
$10K
Median
$18K
75th Percentile
$36K
Geographic Reach
Leadership
JULIANNE CASTLE
Accepts unsolicited proposals
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